ABSTRACT
The rise of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in Nigeria in the 1990s as a non-violent organization engaged in the struggle for Ogoni self-determination and environmental justice has been extensively studied. This chapter builds upon the few scholarly reflections on the decline of MOSOP since 1995. The analysis of MOSOP's trajectory since 1995 is framed within a political process theory of social movements. The underlying idea of political process theory is that a social movement's survival rests primarily on its ability to effectively respond and adapt to political opportunity structures presented by evolving and changing environments and not necessarily the level of grievances of supporters. The mutual distrust between Ogoni political elites and MOSOP's leadership has emerged as a major challenge to the Ogoni struggle in the post-military democratic order in Nigeria. The "judicial" killing of Saro-Wiwa and other MOSOP activists in 1995 targeted the leadership of the movement in several ways.
